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Food for Thought: Ever discover something new in songs you’ve listened to a thousand times?

Well, I was listening to Talib Kweli’s song, ‘Get By’. The mystery line goes, “I paint a picture with the pen like Norman Mailer”. Sounds pretty savvy, huh? But then I asked who the hell is Norman Mailer? Come to find out he’s not the respected male literary author Talib thought him to be. In fact he was a sexist, deep routed in misogyny, and homophobia. Mailer said to an audience at the University of California at Berkeley in 1972, “A little bit of rape is good for a man’s soul.” Naturally, I’m disturbed because it took me so long to discover who Norman Mailer was. Also, makes me question the intent of Kweli for crediting Mailer in the first place? Why not someone respectable like James Baldwin? I can’t conceive that Talib knowingly wrote lyrics in reference to a man, so deeply routed in hate against women and homosexuals. Pay attention. -Gracie Here is the source of the quote: http://flavorwire.com/417099/7-breathtakingly-sexist-quotes-by-famous-and-respected-male-authors/7/